Reinforced textile material



Aug. 16, 1938. A. J. STEINBERGER REINFORCED TEXTILE MATERIAL Filed Aug. 22, 1956- INVENTOIR Amed J. SIelnber Y ORNEYS Patented Aug. 16, 1938 e I UNlTED STATES PATENT OFFICE REINFORCED TEXTILE MATERIAL Alfred J. Steinberger, Jamaica, N. Y., assignor to Celanese Corp ration of America, acorporation of Delaware Application August 22, 1935, Serial No. 37,327

3 Claims; (Cl. 154-2) This invention relates to wearing apparel, ining or after being sealed in between the layers of dustrial articles and the like and more particusheet material. The layers of sheet material larly to a reinforced fabric or similar sheet mateand/ or the reinforcing means may be affixed to rial from which the articles may be formed. each other-with a thermoplastic material. Out- An object of the invention is the manufacture standing examples of suitable thermoplastic ma- 5 in an economical manner, of a reinforced sheet terials for the purpose herein described are fabmaterial. Other objects of the invention will rics or other sheet material containing organic appear from the following detailed description derivatives of cellulose.

and drawing. This invention is applicable to the production In the drawing, wherein like reference numerof a reinforced sheet material that may be formed 10 als refer to the same or similar elements, into any article requiring a reinforced flexible Figure 1 is a side elevation of a golf bag made sheet material. For instance, the sheet material in accordance with this invention; of the present invention may be made into such Figure 2 is a plan view partially in section of articles as tents, military type leggings, trusses a piece of sheet material made in accordance with and braces for various parts of the body, sea ts 15 this invention; and backs of fabric chairs, parts of shoes, col- Figure 3 is a cross section through a sheet and lapsible and rigid cloth water-buckets, sides, tops is taken on the line 3--3 of Figure 2; and bottoms of golf bags, umbrellas, corsets etc. Figure 4 is a cross-section through a modified The reinforcing members of the sheet material form of sheet; may serve as the stays in the umbrellas and 20 Figure 5 is a cross-section through a modified corsets, may serve as the side, top and bottom form of sheet and stays of the golf bags, may serve, as reinforcing Figure 6 is a cross-section through a sheet rims of the bottom and top of the collapsible wherein the flexibility of the component parts cloth water-buckets, and may serve as reinforcing 23 of the sheet between the reinforcing means is stays in the leggings and puttees, etc. 25

preserved. As an aid in describing the invention, the de- By employing this invention articles may be scription will be made with particular'reference formed from flexible sheet material containing to the drawing. Referring especially to Figure l,

permanently aflixed, relatively rigid stiffening there is shown a golf bag having a body I made ribs, stays and the like, which rigid members are of reinforced sheet material and a bottom cap 2 retained therein without stitching, sewing or made either of leather or reinforced sheet matestapling them in place. Articles, formed in acrial, the stays of the cap having been bent to a cordance with this invention, wherein metal recircular form. A suitable top 3 of a material siminforcing means are employed, are more durable ilar to that employed in the bottom may be pro- 5 than those formed by the prior methods in that vided for maintaining, in connection with the the possibility of movement of the sheet material bottom, the body part i circular in shape. Atrelative to the reinforcing means and the consetached to the golf bag body may be suitable apquential cutting of the retaining stitches is enpendages such as a hand grip 4, a carrying strap 5 tirely absent. and a golf ball container 6. If desired, the golf in A further object of this invention is the ease ball container 6 may be formed of reinforced and economy with which the sheet material and materials preferably having the stays or reinforcarticle made from the same may be formed. The ing members thereof at the edges 1. Although present invention also contemplates the formaa golf bag is shown-in the drawing, any other tion of three-dimensional shaped articles from suitable article requiring reinforced sheet mate- 5 flat sheet stock. The three-dimensional articles riaLmay be made without departing from the may be formed by molding the sheet stock to the spirit of the invention.

desired shape during or after the sealing in of The flexible sheet material will be described the reinforcement members. with particular reference to Figures 2 to 6 of the In accordance with this invention, 1 form reindrawing. The assembled flexible sheet material forced, sheet material by laminating and coamay consist of a front or surface layer 8 of flex- 50 lescing together at least two layers of sheet mateible" material and a lining or back sheet 9 also rial having reinforcing members therebetween. of flexible material. Reinforcing members ll of The reinforcing members may be of any suitable any suitable material may be placed between the shape, and may be bent into rings or other shapes front and back sheets at suitable intervals. Be-

required in the finished article either before, durtween the front and back sheets of flexible mate- 55 rial there may be provided a sheet [2 containing organic derivatives of cellulose or other thermoplastic adhesive or binding material.

After the assembly has been built up by laying the sheets and reinforcing members in superimposed position,'the said assembly may be caused to be sealed or coalesced together by means of pressure under such conditions that the inner sheet I2 is caused to be at least partially plastic. The operation of sealing the assembly together may be performed in a number of ways, which will be described more in detail.

The building up of the assembly depends in general upon the requirements of the article for which the sheet material is to be used. For in-' stance, in Figure 3 when employing whale bone, steel or other non-thermoplastic material as the reinforcing member i I, the back and frontsheets will be coalesced together and the stay II will be permanently amxed to the back sheet. However, between the points A-A, as shown in Figure 3, the front sheet will be held against the stay II but not permanently attached thereto. However, if in place of a non-thermoplastic material, the stay ii is formed of a relatively heavy sheet or strip of an organic derivative of cellulose or cellulose nitrate, then, under suitable conditions, there will be a welding of the stay Ii to the-front sheet I.

InFigure4isshownam ed way of assembling sheet material such that the stay, regardless of its composition, may be caused to be permanently attached to both the front and the back sheet. This is accomplished by wrapping the stay II in a sheet of thermoplastic material l3 and inserting strips of thermoplastic sheet material i4 between the reinforcing members. This arrangement, when inserted between the front and back sheets 8 and 9, respectively, forms an 'assembly which, when subjected to pressure under conditions such that the thermoplastic sheets i3 and H are caused to be partially plastic, causes a permanent coalescing of the front and back sheets to eachother and to the rein forcing members.

In Figure 5 there is shown a modified assembly similar to that shown in Figure 3. This assembly may be formed by placing upon the back sheet 9 a sheet of thermoplastic material i2. Upon the thermoplastic sheet I! may be laid, in suitable positions, the reinforcing members ii. Upon the exposed surface of the reinforcing members Ii may be laid strips of thermoplastic materials I! of substantially the same surface shape and size as the reinforcing members or in some cases slightly larger, allowing for a margin of thermoplastic material to extend beyond the marginal edge of the reinforcing member. Upon the layers of thermoplastic sheet material and reinforcing members thus formed may be placed the top sheet I and the complete assembly subjected to pressure under such conditions that the thermoplastic material is partially plastic; This forms a sheet material having reinforcing members in which the front and back sheets are coalesced together and the reinforcing members permanently attached to both sheets. The sheet I! in Figure 4 and sheet IS in Figure 5 may be, in place of a fabric or film, a coating of thermoplastic material. When employing a coating of thermoplastic material, the sam may be applied by dipping the reinforcing members in a solution of the thermoplastic material or the thermoplastic material may be brushed on the reinforcing member or applied in any manner similar to the application of paint.

In Figure 6 is shown a still further modification, which modification results in a sheet material having greater fiexibility than those made by the modifications described above. In this modification, reinforcing members ll, wrapped or coated with a thermoplastic material, are inserted between the back sheet 8 and the front sheet 8 and pressure applied to the assembly under such conditions that the thermoplastic material is partially plastic. This forms a sheet material consisting of two unmodified flexible sheets, namely, the front and back sheets 8 and 9, both of which are caused to adhere in a permanent manner to reinforcing members II at suitable intervals.

The front sheet or surface layer of the assembly may be any suitable flexible material that is at least semi-porous. For instance, the front or surface layer of the assembly may be any suitable fabric formed of yarns of linen, silk, wool, cotton, regenerated cellulose, organic derivatives of cellulose, etc., or mixtures of these that may be felted, woven, warp knitted, circular knitted, knotted or netted, or otherwise formed into fabric-like material. Furthermore, the front or surface layer of the assembly may be paper, leather, artificial films, metallic foils, imitation leather and other similar materials.

The back or lining layer 9 may be ;of the same material as the front or surface layer 8 or the same maybe of a different composition. For forming golf bags, puttees, water bags, shoes and the like, it is generally preferable to use a cotton duck or canvas as the backing layer 9, while for trusses, corsets and the like a lighter weight material, usually of a silk-like nature, is preferable. Furthermore, either the front or surface sheet and the back or lining sheet or both may be formed of laminated sheet material/made by placing sheets of thermoplastic material between -a plurality of sheets, causing the same to coalesce together by the means of pressure under such conditions that the thermoplastic sheet is partially plastic. For instance, an assembly comprising a front or surface sheet, a layer of thermoplastic material, a lining sheet, reinforcing members, a thermoplastic sheet and a backing sheet may be caused to coalesce or weld together under the action of pressure and under such conditions that the thermoplastic sheets become at least partially plastic.

The reinforcing members adapted to be inserted in the assembly may be of any suitable material ranging allthe way from a heavy piece of fabric to steel. For instance, a reinforcing member may be a heavy piece of fabric or a tightly woven piece of fabric, a strip of sheet material formed of organic derivatives of cellulose, synthetic resins, nltro-cellulose or .condensation products of a polyhydric alcohol and a polybasic acid, or it may be whale bone, cardboard or pressed cellulose, with or without binding materials, or it may be made of steel or of any other suitable metal. When employing reinforcing members formed from organic derivatives of cellulose and a plasticizer, the surface of the reinforcing member, when the assembly is pressed, is caused to fuse and coalesce on to the contacting layers of sheet material.

Any suitable sheet material consisting of thermoplastic material that becomes partially plastic under the influence of pressure, heat and plasticizing reagents, may be used as the intermediaie layers of the assembly. This layer may be in the form of a fabric. However, fllms may be employed for producing certain types of articles. It is preferable to form the intermediate layers entirely or in part .of yarns of thermoplastic derivatives of cellulose. The fabric adapted to form the intermediate layer of the assembly may be padded with a substantial amount of plasticizer, or the plasticizer may be incorporated in the yarns of thermoplastic derivatives of cellulose by adding the same'to the spinning solution from which the said yarns are formed. Also, a fabric adapted to form the intermediate layer or layers of the assembly may be a non-thermoplastic fabric, for instance, one made from cotton, silk, wool or the like, which may have been padded with a thermoplastic de-, rivative of cellulose anda plasticizer therefor, or a non-thermoplastic fabric otherwise coated or impregnated with a thermoplastic derivative of cellulosesuch as by'applying to said fabric, in any suitable manner, an aqueous slurry or a powder containing a thermoplastic derivative of cellulose with or without a plasticizer. If the fabric or the powder applied to the fabric adapted to form the intermediate layers of the assembly does not contain a plasticizer, the plasticizer may be applied thereto by a padding or spraying operation. Other methods of applying the organic derivative of cellulose to non-thermoplastic fabrics to produce a suitable sheet material to form the intermediate layers of the assembly may be employed.

Any suitable thermoplastic derivative of cellulose may be employed in the adhesive fabric or sheet forming the intermediate layers of the assembly. For example, the thermoplastic material may be one or a mixture of the organic esters of cellulose and cellulose ethers. Examples of organic esters of cellulose are cellulose acetate, cellulose formate, celluose propionate and cellulose butyrate, while examples of cellulose ethers are methyl cellulose, ethyl cellulose and benzyl celluose.

In an assembly including a heavy, very porous front or back sheet, it is preferable to use an intermediate sheet formed entirely of an organic derivative of cellulose and plasticizer. However, when forming the assembly from relatively thin or tightly woven sheet material as the front, back or both sheets of the assembly, it is often preferable to use an intermediate sheet containing yarns of non-thermoplastic nature interwoven with yarns containing an organic derivative of cellulose and plasticizer. The proportions of non-thermoplastic yarns to yarns of a thermoplastic nature may be of any suitable ratio. For instance, the warp of the intermediate layer may consist of yarns formed of an organic derivative of cellulose while the weft maybe formed of cotton or other non-thermoplastic yarns. However, the reverse of this may be employed, i. e., the warp of the intermediate layer may be of nonthermoplastic derivaties of cellulose. Furthermore, yarns of an organic derivative of cellulose may be interwoven with yarns of a non-thermoplastic nature in either the warp, weft or both.

The assembly consisting of layers of sheet material, having interposed therebetween layers of a thermoplastic sheet material and reinforcing placed in a state such that it will bind or adhere to the contacting layers. This may be accomplished in either of two ways. Thus, where a substantial amount of plasticizer is used along with the organic derivative of cellulose in the intermediate layers, the mere application of heat and pressure in the presence of moisture is sufficient to cause the welding together or. coalescing of the assembly. Furthermore, if the amount of plasticizer is small or if no plasticizer is present, a solvent for the organic derivative of cellulose should be present during the heating and pressing operation. The use of a large amount of plasticizer is desired as many fabrics either of the front, or surface, layer or the back, or lining, layer of the assembly, may be harmfully affected by the application of solvent thereto.

If plasticizer is present, adhesion may be caused by simply pressing with heat in the presence of moisture. The moisture may be present as steam or water or as the water in an aqueous solution. Thus, in employing plasticizer, the laminating of the assembly may be accomplished on any of the ordinary types of wool pressing machines, which inject steam into the material being pressed. If a hand iron or similar device is used as a pressing means, the assembly may be dipped into, padded or sprayed with water prior to pressing. Any suitable pressure may be employed, for in stance, from one to pounds or more per square inch. Any suitable temperature may be employed, which temperature will depend somewhat upon the materials forming the non-thermoplastic sheets of the assembly. In an assembly consisting of a front, or surface, sheet of linen an intermediate sheet containing cellulose acetate and a backing sheet containing a medium weight cotton cloth, temperatures from to 200 C. or more may be employed.

Any suitable plasticizer for the organic derivative of cellulose may be employed in forming the intermediate sheets that are to be used in causing the adhesion, coalescing or Welding together of the various layers of the assembly and the reinforcing members. As stated above, when there is present a substantial quantity of plasticizer, the assembly may be caused to adhere or be welded together in the presence of water and without the presence of a solvent for the organic derivative of cellulose. The plasticizer is preferably water-insoluble. However, any suitable plasticizer may be employed which will make the organic derivative of cellulose more readily susceptible to the action of heat. The plasticizers may be any suitable one for the particular organic derivative of cellulose or mixture of organic derivatives of cellulose employed. Plasticizers may be any of the high boiling or softening agents as, for example, the aryl sulphonamides as para ethyl toluol sulphonamide, the alkyl phthalates as dimethyl phthalates, the dialkyl tartrates as dibutyl tartrate, the alkoxy esters of polybasic organic acids as diethoxy ethyl phthalate, the polybasic acid esters of the monoalkyl ethers of polyhydric alcohols, as diethylene glycol ethyl ether ester of phthalic acid, thealkyl esters of phosphoric acid as triethylglycol phosphate and tributyl phosphate, the aryl esters of phosphoric acid astricresyl phosphate and triphenyl phosphates, the mixed alkyl and aryl phosphates as ethylglycol dicresyl phosphate, and camphor.

The use of heavily plasticized intermediate layers of organic derivatives of cellulose is preferable when employing a front surface layer or a back layer of sheet material containing organic derivatives of cellulose. When employing a substantial amount of plasticizer in the intermediate layers, no solvent is required during the heating and coalescing operation and thus there is eliminated from the process any possibility of injuring the outer layers of the assembly by the action of the solvent being applied thereto. Flirthermore, the outer layers may contain organic derivatives of cellulose, which, if not plasticized, are unaffected during the welding operation and retain their textile nature and pliability yet, due to the plasticizer in the intermediate layers, those layers are caused to be coalesced together.

Although this invention has been described with particular reference to the use of organic derivatlves of cellulose as the thermoplastic material of the intermediate layers, other thermoplastic materials may be employed. It is of great advantage, however, to employ the organic derivatives of cellulose for this purpose as their welding action is substantially permanent and does not permit the separation of the various layers upon flexing of the same nor does the adhesion of the layers become less due to age. For instance, the intermediate layers may be formed of raw rubber, latex, chlorinated rubber, thermoplastic vinyl resins and the like.

When employing metallic reinforcing members such as copper, aluminum, iron, brass or steel, the surface of the same may be roughened prior to assembling them with the fabric. Roughening of the surface of the reinforcing members when formed of metal, allows for a better adhesion or welding action of the thermoplastic material thereto. When employing pressed cellulose, heavy fabric, whale bone, wood, synthetic sheet material containing organic derivatives of cellulose and the like, roughening of the surface may be dispensed with as the thermoplastic material of the intermediate layers readily and permanently adheres to same.

For certain purposes and in the manufacture of certain articles, it is not necessary that the front sheet and the back sheet be of the same size and shape. For instance, in the manufacture of umbrellas by this invention, the front sheet may be of the size and shape suitable for forming the umbrella while the backing sheet may be strips of about an inch or more in width running over the stays of the umbrella. Furthermore, in forming dice cups, water bags and other similar articles, the front or surface sheet may be of the size and shape of the article desired, the reinforcing members consisting of rings around the top and the bottom of the article while the back layer may consist of a strip from 54 inch to an inch or more wider than the rim and lying thereover in such a position as to extend on either side of the rim or reinforcing member.

When employing strips of sheet material containing organic derivatives of cellulose as the reinforcing members ii in the various assemblies,

2,126,888 v the same may be molded to shape during the coalescing and yelding operation as the same becomes plastic and moldable under the action of the heat and pressure required tocause a coalescing together of the various layers. It is not necessary that the reinforcing members ll be flat, but the same may be bent, curved or otherwise suitably shaped for the article which they are to form, prior to, during or after the laminating operation. Articles may be formed employing this invention which have shapes in three dimensions by shaping the article during the welding or coalescing operation as more fully described in my U. S. application S. No. 32,000.

It is to be understood that the foregoing detailed description and drawing are given merely by way of illustration and that many variations may be made therein without departing from the spirit of my invention.

Having described my invention, what I desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a method of making sheets and other articles of reinforced flexible materials, the steps of assembling a front sheet and a back sheet coextensive with said front sheet, reinforcing members, havingthereon a coating of thermoplastic material, between said sheets occupying a part only of the space-between the layers, and an intermediate sheet containing a thermoplastic materialand a plasticizer therefor contacting the reinforcing members, and-pressing the assembly at an elevated temperature in the presence of moisture whereby the reinforcing members are held in the desired position and the flexible sheets are united.

2. In a method of making sheets and other articles of reinforced flexible materials. the steps of assembling a front sheet and a back sheet coextensive with said front sheet, reinforcing members, having thereon a coating of thermoplastic material, between said sheets occupying a part only of the space between the layers, and an intermediate sheet containing an organic derivative of cellulose and a plasticizer therefor contacting the reinforcing members, and pressing the assembly at an-elevated temperature in the presence of moisture whereby the reinforcing members are held in the desired position and the flexible sheets are united.

3. In a method of making sheets and other articles of reinforced flexible materials, the steps of assembling a front sheet and a back sheet coextensive with said front sheet, reinforcing members, having thereon a coating of thermoplastic material, between said sheets occuping a part only of the space between the layers, and an intermediate sheet containing cellulose acetate and a plasticizer therefor contacting the reinforcing members, and pressing the assembly at an elevated temperature in the presence of moisture whereby the reinforcing members are held in the desired position and the flexible sheets are united.

ALFRED J. STEINBERGER. 

